Laurie Brown talked to the Killer Dwarfs in rehearsal for their excellent fourth LP Dirty Weapons. Additionally you will hear a preview for a new song called “Nothing Gets Nothing” live in concert, plus some behind the scenes footage. The band talk about the music scene in Canada at the time (not good) and touring with Iron Maiden. “What Harry wants, Harry gets,” they tell us.

But the real reason you’re watching this video is to see Bruce Dickinson rip the pants right off Darrell Dwarf. It was the last night of the tour and therefore prank night! Enjoy seeing “all of Darrell” as the audience did that night!

First is Russell and Darrell Dwarf in the Much studios in 1986. You can see just how small these guys are! Then in 1990 (they must have grown a bit by then) it’s Mike and Darrell Dwarf talking about their newest album Dirty Weapons.

Strangely, I first heard Brian Byrne’s solo single debut, “Far From Good”, on a local lite-rock radio station that I usually try to avoid. The song caught my ear for its upbeat, country-rock sound, with bouncy violin and piano on top. A neat mix. When they said it was by Brian Byrne, I stopped myself. Couldn’t be the I Mother Earth singer getting played on a lite-rock station, could it? But it was. I promptly ordered the CD from the Record Store at which I formerly worked. The disc arrived in a few days, great condition, except for the promo-cut jewel case. They normally should have replaced the case before the CD shipped, but somebody missed it. I didn’t want to ask for a new case, because I just left the place six months before and I didn’t want to become “that” customer!

But enough about me, what about Byrne? Here he worked with near-legendary Canadian producer Tim Thorney, as well as former Killer Dwarfs guitarist Gerry Finn. (Byrne and Finn both hail from Newfoundland.) I Mother Earth were deactivated, and Byrne honed Tuesdays, Thursdays and if it Rains… into a pleasing acoustic rock album, very “singer-songwriter” in sound.

“Far From Good” is the highlight, being the most immediate and lively. The album is diverse. The opening track “Days Go On” has elements of country, funk, classic rock and soul. The juicy organ parts really suck you in. “Jen’s Song” is one of many ballads, this one reminding me of 80’s Phil Collins for some reason. Byrne gets to let his voice speak more than he does in the louder I Mother Earth. Then there’s a big chorus on “Sweet Love”, a better light country rock tune than Bon Jovi’s ever written. This is like country-Jovi, but with integrity and feelings, and not a lot of flash. “Nova Dashboard” is a lovely, bluesy country ballad along the lines of Blue Rodeo’s dusky favourites. The guitars (by Thorney) get right under your skin.

I could go on and on, but all the songs have a quiet, smouldering power to them. The light and shade of the album sounds quintessentially Canadian to me, and the calibre of the musicianship is above reproach. Expect an album of diverse music crossing several genres, but do not expect I Mother Earth. Byrne almost went as far in another direction as you could imagine. And that is really cool, because he does it so well.

“You guys do like to drink, don’t ya? You are Canadian aren’t ya? Most of us are Canadian in here, except for there’s one guy that I know of. Security!” — Russ Dwarf

KILLER DWARFS – Reunion of Scribes Live 2001 (2002 Bullseye)

Aaron scored this for cheap at his “junk shop” and passed it down to me. It was the only Killer Dwarfs CD I was missing — and for good reason. I had the chance to hear it once, at the Record Store, while I was working for a stretch in Hamilton. I didn’t think much of it then. Has anything changed?

The Killer Dwarfs quietly went extinct after their final studio album, 1992’s Method to the Madness. 10 years later, the band reunited including Mike (Hall) Dwarf, who had actually left the band prior to 1992. This is a full reunion of the classic lineup: The Dwarfs Russty, Mike, Darrell and Bad Ronbo. Let’s “Go DuNK” and see what the Killer Dwarfs 2001 sounded like. At one hour and 11 minutes, Reunion of Scribes is the longest Killer Dwarfs album to date.

Strangely enough for a Canadian band, the concert begins with a recording of “The U.S. Air Force” (also known as “The Wild Blue Yonder”) before the band emerges with a limp version of their own “Dirty Weapons”. What’s the problem? It’s certainly not Russ Dwarf, who sounds vintage strong. The guitar is too thin, and blemished with sour notes here and there. Hey, it’s been a long time since Mike was a Dwarf! The drums also sound disconnected from the song from time to time. Chock it up to a bad recording? (At the Docks, in Toronto.) “Stand Tall” also suffers: the guitar needs to be front and center. The sound of the band suddenly becomes sparse and weak every time Mike Dwarf stops playing the riff in order to lay down a solo. The bass isn’t fat enough to fill the gap.

Another weakness to this recording is a concentration on songs from 1988-1992. There’s nothing at all from their first self-titled album, even their first single “Heavy Mental Breakdown”, the song that helped put them on the map. Instead the Dwarfs focused on more radio-friendly later music for this set. Of that tunage, most of the hits are here: “Stand Tall”, “Keep the Spirit Alive”, “Dirty Weapons”, “Doesn’t Matter”, “Hard Luck Town”. Their first big label single, “We Stand Alone” is missing from the set, which instead includes lots of notable album cuts. The best of these include “Believe in Me” from their second album Stand Tall. Russ Dwarf’s ageless voice delivers hard-edged numbers like “Starting to Shine”, “Last Laugh”, “Nothin’ Gets Nothin'”, and “Comin’ Through” with all its usual intensity.

The most emotional moment (for fans) has to be the ballad “Doesn’t Matter”. “Roll the dice and play the game, for the fortune and the fame.” The Dwarfs did roll the dice, at least they tried. “Doesn’t Matter” is a pretty simple lyrically: get out there and give’r.* The live recording doesn’t deliver its full power, but I do get the feels to hear them return to Toronto and play this song for their friends.

Most of these songs are still high-quality hard rock workhorses. While Russ Dwarf brings it all and then some, the poor recording renders Reunion of Scribes an album that will only get infrequent plays at LeBrain HQ.

2/5 stars

* The Killer Dwarfs are the only band I can think of who actually used the word “give’r” in a song lyric.

I don’t know where Aaron finds this stuff up in Owen Sound, but here is a pristine digipack CD of Russ Dwarf (of Killer Dwarf) and friends doing acoustic versions of old Killer Dwarfs classics. Wireless is a great name for such a venture, and the friends list includes Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (ex-Guns N’ Roses) and Glen Drover (ex-Megadeth). Holed up in a studio in Newmarket, Ontario they laid down some pretty cool acoustic renditions of these numbers.

“Keep the Spirit Alive” remains irresistible today in acoustic form. That’s because a good song has a lifespan. A great chorus and memorable lyrics plus a pinch of magic made “Keep the Spirit Alive” a minor hit. It’s one of the most purely enjoyable Dwarfs tunes and works well as an acoustic spirit booster. Russ can still hit all the notes. From the same album (Stand Tall, 1986) comes “Stand Tall”, which also makes the acoustic transition successfully. A pretty incredible guitar solo (it’s not clear who is playing what) ensures this isn’t just “KD Lite”.

1988’s “I’m Alive” was an upbeat morale booster in its band arrangement. Acoustically it’s the campfire version of the same thing. The musical arrangements on Wireless do not deviate very far from the originals. There are no radical re-imaginings. What makes Wireless special for fans is Russell Graham’s earnest and still strong vocals, and of course the impressive six-string slinging of Drover and Bumblefoot. The harder rock songs transition into an acoustic versions well enough, but ballads like “Doesn’t Matter” really shine. A touch of piano and a vintage Russell vocal are the perfect topping. A lot of this sounds live in the studio. It doesn’t sound like a lot of time was spent mucking around fixing things in the mix, or sweetening things up. What it sounds like, more or less, is Russ singing live in your living room.

The one thing that I did not think would work acoustically was “Comin’ Through”, the angry barnstormer from Dirty Weapons (1990). It exists acoustically as a semi-epic and righteous twister through the plains of Canada. “Crazy fuckin’ people living in the past, can’t you see that ain’t gonna last?” sings Russ with all the grit of the original. Whatever Mr. Dwarf is doing to maintain his voice…well, good on you sir! “Dirty Weapons” itself is mournful and slow rather than aggressive. Interestingly, Russ arranged this album in chronological order. The last three songs are from the final Dwarfs studio album Method to the Madness (1992). That puts a nice bow on it, serving as a reminder that the Killer Dwarfs were still writing great tunes right to the end. I can’t think of a better tune to end with than “Driftin’ Back”.

I quite liked Wireless and recommend it to any fan of the mighty mites known as Killer Dwarfs who wants to check out some quieter versions of their best material. No new songs, sadly. That would have been bitchin’.

“Social media”, as they call it today, is nothing new. Before Twitter there was Facebook. Before Facebook there was MySpace. Before MySpace there was Friendster, and so on. What has changed is the degree to which we have included social media sites into our lives. They’re already integrated into our phones and software, making it easy to dive in. Some have shunned all social media, and who can blame them? It’s not for everybody to put your life out there, or to see these endless streams of useless info pouring in. If you only have “x” amount of online time a day, it’s easy enough to waste it all on Facebook.

Social media has its ups and downs. Obviously we can now see breaking news all over the world as it happens. We can also see false rumours start like fires, with “re-tweets” and “shares”. You know this and I know this, so I won’t spend too much time commenting on it. Social media can be a brain-killer. It can reduce our teens to near illiteracy, as they spout their “urs” and “lols”. (“Ur” drives me nuts. Is it so hard to type “your”?) Social media must be used wisely, if you choose to partake. To the ignorant, it can have devastating results.

I believe in using social media for myself, but wisely. Here are some positive things that have come from social media:

1. Direct contact with the stars.

The one time I received a message from Sebastian Bach (ex-Skid Row) regarding something I wrote on MySpace about Helix was pretty exciting to me. Now, you can tweet your own thoughts to your rock star heroes, and some of them actually read them! Our good friend Heavy Metal OverloRd received a direct response from David Coverdale of Whitesnake, to his suggestion for a future Whitesnake DVD release. I’ve been thanked or complimented for my reviews and stories by members of Helix, Killer Dwarfs, Harem Scarem and Judas Priest. Dave Bidini liked that my reviews are “different” from the mainstream, and that comment really made me feel great!

The kind of interaction we can have today with our rock heroes is unprecedented. I don’t mean the types who hire a social media guru to do all their online posts. I mean the kind who are hands-on with their accounts. I enjoy having the chance to say to somebody, “I really liked that song.” Music is about communication and it’s nice to have another avenue of feedback.

2. Creating your own social groups.

Here on WordPress, there is a strong, supportive community of writers. Some of us are pros, most of us are not. Quite organically, many of us have grouped together to read, support, and offer feedback. There’s no organization to it, it’s just a bunch of us here who have similar interests and comment regularly. There’s no exclusion. It’s just writers who read and enjoy each other’s work. It’s a great, positive atmosphere that I believe has made us all better writers. Very little negativity seems to happen here.

3. Surprise “follows”.

I’m fascinated by the people who follow me on Twitter. Even though I’d never contacted her, followed her, or reviewed any of her music, Serena Ryder follows me. I don’t know why, but I still think that’s pretty cool. Other surprise followers included Olivia Black of Pawn Stars fame. Leatherwolf followed me, and I’ve been a fan of theirs for a long time. Then, I was followed by local cosmetic surgeon Dr. Takhar. I assume she heard me on the radio, rather than thinking I need some work done…but I could be wrong!

Best for me though, a couple writers I really admire have read some of my stuff, and have left positive comments. That means more than any Pawn Star or plastic surgeon. I really looked up to those two guys when I was starting to write.

There have also been some drawbacks to social media.

1. Too much music.

For every band that I love who has followed me, such as the aforementioned Helix and Killer Dwarfs, there are plenty that I’ve never heard of. Some turned out to be pretty good! But each one would probably like if I had a chance to listen to their music and review it. I only wish I had the time! I have a home life, and I work full time. Mikeladano.com is something I do in my spare time, and it’s something I love doing. I love listening to and talking about music. I wish there were enough hours in the day to listen to everyone. I guess there is such a thing as “too much music”.

2. Haters gonna hate.

You’re going to encounter haters online. Geoff Tate fans, for example, have made a nuisance of themselves here in the past. Worst for me personally were the Record Store Tales haters. Social media meant it was inevitable that Record Store Tales would be read by people who didn’t like what I wrote, or that I wrote anything at all!

Regardless of the drawbacks, I don’t regret using social media to promote mikeladano.com. I’ve made readers out of people who only knew me as “LeBrain” on the radio, and that’s what I was going for in the first place.

If you don’t like social media, I get that. I support your decision to use it or not. Aside from a few bumps in the road, it’s worked well for me to get my stories and reviews out there. It’s part of the online landscape now, like it or not!

NEW RELEASE

A World With Heroes EP – A KISS Tribute for Cancer Care(Anniversary release)

You’ve heard me talking a lot about this one lately. It’s a release I’m really excited about. The record shows that I heartily approved of last year’s A World With Heroes (A Kiss Tribute for Cancer Care), assembled by Mitch Lafon. Proceeds went to benefit the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Palliative Care Residence in Hudson, Quebec. And it was a killer, killer CD as my 5/5 star rating attested to. To hear there was an EP coming featuring more Kiss covers, that peaked my interest. Lafon always makes sure that there are quality tunes, performed by artists we care about.

The Killer Dwarfs do “C’mon and Love Me” just right. I like that Russ Dwarf throws in some of Gene’s mannerisms in the chorus, but also sings it in his own voice. If you like Killer Dwarfs and Kiss, you will love this, guaranteed. Once again, the A World With Heroes series has delivered a solid Kiss cover that is valuable to fans.

“Calling Dr. Love” as performed by Crash Kelly is a real rarity. You had to pre-donate to the original compilation CD to get an mp3 of it. Now you can buy it on the EP. They turn in a fun version of “Dr. Love”. They make it a bit more pop rock in feel, and Sean Kelly absolutely nails Ace’s solo note for note. It’s uncanny. We all know Sean is a talented axeman, but that solo was flawless.

“Save Your Love” is an awesome Ace song, but Matt Bradshaw’s take on it is unique to say the least. He transforms it into a funky acoustic ballad. But it works! I was prepared to hate it but was pleasantly surprised. It’s bizarre how the song completely works in this format. This is an example of an intelligent, innovative cover — something that is rare these days. Brilliant cover. Seriously.

“Every Time I Look at You” was originally from the Revenge album. Some fans assume that Bruce Kulick played the guitar solo, but it was in fact Bob Ezrin’s old pal, Dick Wagner. Dick Wagner passed away recently, at age 71. This was his last song ever, which makes his version of this song that much more poignant. His quavering voice speaks of the years past, but much like a late period Johnny Cash album, it only adds character to the song. He sounds like a cross between Bob Dylan and Keith Richards. The guitar work is lovely of course.

The Dwarfs return with “Nothin’ to Lose” from the first album. Once again Russ nails the Gene mannerisms, while still sounding like Russ Dwarf. This one is replete with piano and cowbell (Piano is by Bruce Stephen Foster, who also played on the Kiss original!). I gotta be honest with you, I like the idea of the Dwarfs covering Kiss songs. They can do more if they want. They’re allowed.

Sudden Flames are a metal band from Quebec City. They heavy up “Coming Home” considerably. It’s one of my favourite Kiss songs ever, so it’s kind of funny to hear it with drums blasting away like this. Like “Dr. Love”, this song was only available to those who donated in advance to the original CD. Now you can get it on iTunes too. I enjoy hearing their Québécois accents, truly one of the greatest accents on this Earth.

NEW…ish RELEASE!

Good Sir Aaron purchased this for me at his local establishment for the low, low price of $5. In Aaron’s review, he stated, “This is the best $5 I’ve spent on spec in ages. Bar none.” That’s mighty tribute from a guy like Aaron, who buys a lot of CDs on spec.

What is Metal On Ice? The talented guitarist Sean Kelly (Crash Kelly, Four By Fate, The #1 Classical Guitar Album) put together a book of rock tales from Canada’s best of the 80’s: Helix, Anvil, Coney Hatch, Killer Dwarfs, Kick Axe and more. To go with it, he also produced this EP. Metal On Ice, the CD, consists of remakes of Canadian heavy metal classics. For all but one song, he has the original singers from the bands singing lead vocals. For the one that he doesn’t, (Kick Axe’s “On the Road to Rock”) he has Nick Walsh from Slik Toxik. Then to top it all off, he and Walsh wrote a new song called “Metal On Ice” featuring vocals from almost everybody.

Many of these songs are radio staples. “Heavy Metal Love” is one of those Helix classics that has endured. Written by Brian Vollmer and the late Paul Hackman, I think it’s one of Helix’s best tunes, period. Vollmer’s pipes speak for themselves. Sean Kelly was in Helix, on bass, for a few months before Brian reunited the classic lineup. Playing bass on this version however is Helix bassist Daryl Gray. It’s a pretty authentic remake.

I found “Metal Queen” by Lee Aaron to be the most impressive track. I cannot believe Lee’s voice, powerful as ever! With the new production and guitars by Sean Kelly, “Metal Queen” has actually been improved. It’s still an old-school metal chugger, but you can actually hear the lyrics now! What is important is that Kelly has not changed the songs very much at all. His impressively tasteful playing is enough to make each one shine just a little more. Each solo is 100% appropriate to the classic songs.

A great example of this is the Headpins’ “Don’t It Make Ya Feel” featuring Darby Mills. He has captured the vibe of the original guitar tone, and the song is very authentic. Similarly, Nick Walsh does not deviate too much from George Criston’s lead vocals from “On the Road to Rock”. When Walsh screams the high notes, it’s perfect. Carl Dixon sings lead on Coney Hatch’s classic “Hey Operator”. Dixon nearly died in a car accident not too long ago; it’s great to hear his voice as strong as ever. How do these Canadian singers stay perpetually young sounding? Is it our cold, frosty air?

Russ Dwarf returns to remake the Killer Dwarfs favourite, “Keep the Spirit Alive”. This has always been my favourite Killer Dwarfs song, right from the very beginning. It’s absolutely wonderful to hear a well produced updated version. I admit that when I first got this CD, I went back and played “Keep the Spirit Alive” four or five times in a row.

Finally, there is the new original song “Metal on Ice”. This ode to the road features lead vocals from Dixon, Vollmer, Mills, Walsh and Aaron. I love the lyrics: “Hello Kelowna, goodbye Kenora, but we do it all tomorrow in Thunder Bay,” for example. It is these kinds of Canadian towns that has kept the rock alive through trends and changing winds. Walsh proudly proclaims that even though they may never make it to the top, they’re never going to stop.

Part 7.5 in my series on Ace Frehley, sorta! Plenty of Ace related coolness here. For the last part of the Ace series,12 Picks, click here.

A World With Heroes – A KISS Tribute for Cancer Care – A 40th Anniversary Celebration

Cancer sucks. Kiss rules. Agreed? Buy this CD.

Mitch Lafon executive produced this sucker, and I suspect that means a hell of a lot of work. I have never in my travels discovered a cooler Kiss tribute album. Do you really need to buy another Kiss tribute album? Do you? Yes, you do. Why? For the following reasons:

Members of the Kiss family including Eric Carr, Peter Criss, Frehley’s Comet (minus Frehley), Bob Kulick and Phil Naro.

I can’t say enough good things about this compilation. Upon first sight, it had enough rarities from artists I liked, as well as Kiss obscurities, to make it a must-have. Hearing it, I’m blown away repeatedly. It is a heady brew of hits and deep, deep cuts. Since there are 51 tracks in total, I can’t go into too much detail. I’ll point out some personal favourite moments.

I’m a huge fan of the Revenge album, and I’m a huge fan of Accept. Hearing Mark Tornillo do his thing through “Spit” was awesome. I think the man’s vocal cords must be made of steel or something for him to sing like that. I also loved “Sure Know Something”, although I don’t know Chris Buck & Anthony Cardenas Montana. It’s a slinky version, very true to the original but with a Rod Stewart vibe. Jeff Paris does a pretty authentic “Shout Mercy” and I give him full points for doing a Monster tune, the newest Kiss song on A World With Heroes.

I’ve loved Brighton Rock since I was a kid, but I never expected them to unplug “Creatures of the Night”. This twist takes a moment to get used to, but their haunting arrangement is very original and cool! “Larger Than Life” from Alive II is revisited by Brian Tichy and friends, and they do it pretty straight to the original, almost lick for lick. It’s great. I love that Ron Young from Little Caesar sings “Little Caesar”, a nice wink and a smile there. A band called Shredmill contribute their original song “Outerspace”…which was later covered by Ace Frehley on his Anomaly album (giving himself a writing credit). Shredmill’s version is more Danzig, where Ace’s was more Ace.

On the second CD, surprises and highlights continue. Ron Keel and friends from Tesla and Cinderella knock it out of the park on “Rock N’ Roll Hell”, with a nod at the start to Keel’s own “The Right To Rock”. Rick Hughes of Quebec metal masters Sword helps blow the doors off “The Oath”, a favourite from The Elder. The L.A. Guns guys (Phil Lewis included) tackle the difficult “Master & Slave” from Carnival of Souls, and it smokes. They do it authentic to the grungy original but with Phil’s snarky vocals.

As a Killer Dwarfs fan, I’m always pleased to hear Russ Dwarf’s nasally twang, and he turns in a decent “Hard Luck Woman”. (Meanwhile, another bunch of L.A. Guns guys did their own version on disc one.) Bonfire contribute a live version of Paul Stanley’s unreleased song “Sword & Stone”, from their Live at Wacken CD. I don’t really know who American Dog are, but I love that they covered the Paul Stanley version of “God of Thunder”, not the Gene Simmons take from Destroyer. They do it the speedy rocked-up way that Paul originally demoed. Jim Crean does justice to “Magic Touch”. He’s almost Joe Lynn Turner style on this one.

The second CD ends with two takes of “Beth” (Chris VanDahl sounding like the hoarse Peter Criss on Alive II, and Phil Naro). This is in addition to Michael Lardie’s (Great White) version on disc one. Naro’s is easily the best of the three.

But wait, that’s not all, folks. iTunes are selling a 51 track version of A World With Heroes, including 11 exclusives. Thankfully, you can buy these exclusives separately if you already bought the CD (like I did). Once again, highlights are many. Doro contributes a 2013 re-recording of “Only You”, which she had a previous hit with back in 1990. Russ Dwarf returns with an outstanding “God Gave Rock and Roll To You II”. There are two previously unreleased demos by the Peter Criss Band with Phil Naro. These feature Peter on drums, but believe me, you can hear that it is the Cat Man and no one else. In addition, there’s a third song from this period, but recorded by Phil in 2013. There is also a second version of “Larger Than Life”, this time by somebody called Robot Lords Of Tokyo. I don’t know who Robot Lords Of Tokyo are, but I love “Larger Than Life” and I have no problem with another version of it. This one’s done quite differently, and heavier too.

But wait! There’s still more! Pledgers who pre-ordered the CD got four bonus tracks. I missed the boat on these, and you can’t get them anymore. I’m bummed about that, but for the sake of completion, the four bonus tracks are:

‘Calling Dr. Love’ – Performed by: Crash Kelly

‘Comin’ Home’ – Performed by: Sudden Flames

‘Heaven’s On Fire’ – Performed by: The Feckers (ft. Irene Slade)

‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’ Performed by: Alain Pernot

I’d love to have these, especially Crash Kelly, but alas. The project is still awesome and worth your coins. Especially if you’re a self respecting Kiss fan. Get it.

5/5 stars

EDIT: I now have the tracks. Crash Kelly’s is awesome! Fun and awesome.